Education

Which Workplace Spanish Program is Best

Consider this. You have a significant amount of Spanish-speaking clients or employees in your company who have trouble conversing in English. Although they may be attending English classes at the local adult school, you are wondering if contracting a few Spanish classes might help your supervisors and managers communicate better with their Spanish–speaking partners. With government mandates for diversity training in American corporations, learning Spanish for work is a growing interest for business professionals. Along with this rising interest in workplace Spanish come several options to contemplate for the type of training program that best suits your company.

A training provider company is probably the most well-known option for businesses seeking customized, on-site training in Spanish. These companies offer a wide range of job-specific training (Spanish for Law Enforcement, Spanish for Tax Preparers, Medical Spanish and the like). However popular, these courses can be quite costly. Not only that, many offer instruction based on sample sentences that you must memorize in hopes that they will be the exact sentences you’ll need for the exact situation you’ll be in to communicate with a Spanish-speaking employee or client. If this is the case, recommendations are to look for a training company that offers a basic Spanish course, specifically for the workplace, with well-rounded language basics in terms of useful grammar, pertinent vocabulary and contextual conversation practice. Only this kind of course will allow you to generate your own sentences in Spanish for any given scenario in which you may have to communicate.

A somewhat less familiar but perhaps more practical option for workplace Spanish training is the local community college. Most community colleges offer customized training in all sorts of subjects, and their prices are generally lower than private training providers and consultants. The college contracts a campus instructor who will hold classes at your company site. Envision a company in the community contracting with a community college. “Community helping community.” It’s an inspiring match! For a workplace Spanish course, the college instructor should be able to adapt language basics, vocabulary, and contextual scenarios to the specific needs of your business. Again, those
rote sentences will not leave you with enough grasp of the language to continue speaking in Spanish when the lessons are over. So be sure the course offers well-rounded material for real and continuous communication to take place! With your specific needs and time frame, you can contact Workforce Development (colleges may also list training under Contract Education or Corporate Training), the division that specifically deals with customized training for businesses in the community.

Probably the least utilized and most viable option for Spanish training in the workplace is, as they say, right in your own backyard. If your company has a staff trainer who is bilingual or at least fluent in Spanish, s/he serves as a tremendous in–house resource for the kinds of communication situations managers and supervisors experience on the job with their Spanish-speaking employees or clients. Needless to say, the costs for using a staff trainer are dramatically lower than the above options. Furthermore, because the
trainer is also an employee, s/he is an immediate “fit” to the company’s philosophy and framework. With a good workplace Spanish text that includes a teacher’s guide, a company can save a sizeable amount of money with “in-house instructor” training and reap the course benefits too!

Whichever option your company chooses, learning Spanish in the workplace had proven to encourage better communication among employees, advance teamwork and trust, and
strengthen company profitability. It is a great return on investment for all who participate. Good luck, and enjoy learning your “new” language!

Abstract:

Consider this. You have a significant amount of Spanish-speaking clients or employees in your company who have trouble conversing in English. Although they may be attending English classes at the local adult school, you are wondering if contracting a few Spanish classes might help your supervisors and managers communicate better with their Spanish–speaking partners. With rising interests in workplace Spanish come several options to contemplate for the type of training program that best suits your company.